The Ties That Bind Us
by Abbyforth
Summary: Unforseen consequences befall Celebrien, while the daughter of Gandalf makes her mark on the world.
1. Chapter 1

THE TIES THAT BIND US

Part I: Beginnings

CELEBRIAN

Chapter One

All was peaceful in Imladris, the last homely house west of the Sea. If I had known the peace would be short lived, that more excitement would come my way, I might have taken a different course of action. In retrospect, marrying Elrond was the right choice, even if I sometimes wished it otherwise. In marrying a peredhel, and a lord at that, my fate was sealed. I was bound to have some excitement, wasn't I? In the centuries following the Last Alliance, I rarely thought of the other path I could've taken. The path involving the now king of Mirkwood. But lately, my thoughts had strayed to him more than normal. And that unsettled my conscience, for I felt it was betraying Elrond. Sometimes I tried to tell myself that we had gone our separate ways that our choices were made. The rest of the time I was consumed with questions: What if things were different? What if I had married Thranduil instead? I tried to imagine myself living in the palace, and quickly squashed the idea. Imladris was where I belonged, and was where I would stay. So it was a bit of a shock when the object of my thoughts turned up one day, but that is where my story begins.

It was a cold clear night in October when Thranduil decided to pay me a visit. Predictably, Elrond was at one of his many daily meetings, and I had just put my twin sons to bed. It was still fairly early, but Elladan and Elrohir had worn me out completely. I loved my sons, but sometimes they were hard to handle. Tonight for instance there was an incident involving a game of hide-and-seek and lembas making. Needless to say, a flour throwing war had ensued. And I had expressly forbidden them to make lembas again until they were older. Much older. Another nice thing about having two elflings who constantly demand your attention was that it distracted me from my rather morose thoughts as of late. But now that they were asleep, it gave me an opportunity to think of things I would rather not think about. Such as my less than perfect relationship with Elrond, how my own mother never returned my letters, and most importantly, how I wished for just one glimpse of Thranduil. It was on this night that I got my wish, but not quite in the way I expected. I was contemplating going to bed, when I heard a series of frantic knocking on the front door. I briefly wondered who would be visiting at this late hour. Elrond had the key, and I couldn't think of anyone else who knocked like that… Throwing caution to the wind, I hurried to the door. I will always remember what happened next. Behind the door stood a cloaked figure, or rather the figure was leaning heavily, trying to stay upright. The first thing I observed was that they were drenched and shivering violently. The next thing I noticed was the way they held themselves, with grace and elegance that only the Eldar possessed. Suddenly the light from a flash of lightning put the figure in sharp relief and I saw clearly.

"Thranduil? What in all of Arda are you doing here?"

The elf, for indeed he was elven, turned towards me, and in the weakest voice I had ever heard, but also with a tinge of the sarcasm that was Thranduil said "Aren't you at all pleased to see me? Or has Elrond corrupted you?"

Then he fell forward, causing me to quickly jump to catch him. It was then I noticed the cloaked bundle he held protectively to his chest. An elfling, a mere few days old was just waking up when Thranduil fell. I caught both with some effort, and cast about for a way to get them to the healing halls, or at least to one of the bedrooms, preferably without waking the twins while doing so… I suddenly wished Elrond would return, or someone would come and find us... The beam of light suddenly accosted my senses, almost blinding me in the process. Two figures stood out against the light, Erestor and Glorfindel, chief advisor and lore-master respectively. They were probably coming from the meeting place, which meant one thing. I had to get Thranduil out of the vicinity before Elrond returned. And I had the perfect opurtunity, with Glorfindel and Erestor here now. It was Erestor who noticed me first. He was at my side almost at once, but as it was with Erestor, he didn't question why I was there, or even why Thranduil was at our doorstep at this late hour. He carefully took some of Thranduil's weight off me, and Glorfindle gave me a reassuring squeeze to the shoulder, saying "Take the elfling; we'll take the king from here."

Nodding gratefully, I stepped away, still carrying the blanketed elfling. I descended the stairs and went into an unused bedroom which also served as a storage room. I was never happier that I'd saved some of the twin's old baby furniture than in that moment. Placing the elfling in an old bassinet, I sat down on a discarded chair to wait for news of Thranduil. I began to muse silently. I wondered for how long he had been in the storm? Did Thranduil even know how to raise a child? Somehow I couldn't imagine him being a good Adar, but maybe he would prove me wrong? My musings were cut short as a shrill cry rent the air. I had been neglecting my duties watching Thranduil's son, and he was not happy about it. I was no stranger to taking care of elflings; I had two already after all. So, I did what came naturally to me. I carefully picked up my new charge, and headed out in search of milk, for that is what an elfling wants the most in their first days of life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Armed with a newly warmed bottle of milk courtesy of the kitchen staff, I settled at the dining room table, to wait for news of Thranduil. It was lucky that the table wasn't used that often; only for small councils and meetings, so I had no chance of anyone unwelcome finding us here. Namely Elrond. I just hoped Arestor and Glorfindel could distract him long enough for Thranduil and me to come up with a decent plan. A reason why he had turned up to his worst enemy's house in the midst of a storm that, hopefully, wouldn't involve me.

My thoughts were interrupted, yet again, this time by the feel of a hand on my shoulder. I reacted on instinct, batting it away with my free hand.

"Tsk, tsk, is that any way to greet an old friend?" I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment, for Thranduil stood behind me. It then occurred to me that he was actually here and not in bed, where he belonged.

"Why on Arda are you not in bed? And how long did you subject your poor son to that storm? Did you ever pay attention to how cold it was? You could have died the both of you! If you do that again, I'll… I'll…"

I suddenly noticed that my attempt at ranting had failed miserably. It must have had some effect on him however, because he had the decency to look sheepish.

"I'll admit it wasn't the most brilliant of plans, but I had to leave, too many memories in that place…" He shivered, and I was almost positive it wasn't from the cold. Then it occurred to me, the constant threat of dark creatures had finally driven Thranduil to find some other refuge, and I knew that he thought the best course of action was to bring his son with him. I could not blame him, if Elrond needed to relocate, then I would not leave Elladan or Elrohir to fend for themselves. Whatever happened, with Elrond I would go and with him I would stay. I then couldn't help but notice Thranduil's hand had not left my shoulder, but then again, I felt I needed the comfort he could provide.

I mentally shook myself, we had to come up with a plan to get Thranduil and his son away from Elrond, and I was acting like a young maiden smitten with her first love? What was wrong with me? But then again, I hadn't seen Thranduil in so long… It made sense to me why I would act this way. My thoughts were again interrupted by a hand being waved in front of my face.

"Celebrian… Celebrian? I've been trying to say something for the past five minutes, what is troubling you?"

His question hung in the air, unanswered. Could I possibly tell him about my failing relationship with Elrond? Could I tell him about how I really felt, of how I spent sleepless nights regretting my path? About how I sometimes imagined Thranduil in my husband's place? That last confession had me reeling at the sheer force of it, not to mention it was true. I suddenly knew what I had to do. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Thranduil, readying myself for the inevitable, when a flicker of movement from behind the drapes covering the windows caught my eye. There were only two possible persons who could be behind the drapes, as they were too small for anyone else. I turned back to Thranduil, as if nothing was amiss, but in reality, I waited for one of my sons to come out from the drapes and explain why he was eavesdropping, for he must have a good reason. I waited for the couple of seconds it took for the drape to move a side, revealing my younger son, Elrohir, clad in typical night attire, and looking rather guilty.

I could do one of two things, berate him for spying on us, or actually find out why he was here in the first place. I chose the latter, no matter how much I wanted to yell at him, I knew it would not help us in any way. I turned my attention away from my unexpected guest and towards my now shaking son.

"Come here penneth," I said in as calm a voice as I could. "Did you have a bad dream?"

At the mention of a bad dream, Elrohir ran flat out the rest of the way towards where Thranduil and I were seated, and threw himself onto my lap. I automatically began stroking his dark tresses, hoping to sooth and alleviate his fears, whatever they may be. It was common knowledge, at least among our extended family, that Elrohir had inherited his adar's gift of foresight. It was not until recently that my husband had deemed Elrohir old enough to start learning about how this would affect him, and the flip side to his gift. Or curse, as the case may be. For it was definitely showing its negative effects right now… I pushed those thoughts away, and focused on the task at hand.

"What did you see?"

This was the wrong thing to say, but for my credit, I was curious. As soon as those words left my lips, my son became even more withdrawn, and promptly turned his face away from me. "I am not mad at you for spying on us; I'd just rather you told me what is wrong…"

"Ada told me not to tell you what I see…"

This was news to me. On one hand, I appreciated Elrond sparing me, but on the other, this gave Thranduil even more reason to hate him. Which I couldn't have, not at all. I now wished it had been Elladan who was hidden behind the drapes; at least that little tidbit of knowledge would not have been said. I now wondered how this would turn out, would Thranduil ever put aside his grudge against my husband? Or would Elrond make me chose him over Thranduil? The room suddenly felt colder, less inviting and I automatically pulled Elrohir closer to me. I desperately hoped through all of this, my sons would not suffer in anyway, that they would stay children for years to come. I vowed then and there to protect them at all costs from whatever might come our way, for if I was unable to do so, I feared the world as I knew it would end.


End file.
